The Brook
by Kozga Nitt
Summary: A ChoujixShikamaru fanfic. So far, it's done, a cliffhanger, if you will. But I'll complete it if I get enough convincing. This wasn't easy for me to type. Enjoy...


(Note: Another boredom, crack, session. This time it's ShikamaruxChouji. Poor Chouji, I don't know how to characterize him, except thinking back to when he fought Jiribo. [SPOILER WARNING, for the ones sticking to the English Naruto. Soooo. . .that would mean. . .He's sorta like a. . .Lee, for loyal. . .slash. . .good Kabuto, also for loyal, if only Orochimaru weren't an evil man, slash. . .good knowledge about food. . .[Which confuses me to no end. If Chouji knew what was good and bad in foods, why does he eat chips so much!? I know it's for strength, but celery's just as efficient! And it's good for your eyesight, too! Okay, done rambling. This is gonna make me sick to my stomach, I can FEEL it. Constructive Criticism, without killing me for being out of character on Chouji.)

Shikamaru rested his head on his hands, elbows propped up on the low table in the kitchen, where he sat. He closed his eyes and let a sigh escape his mouth. Today seemed to go by very slowly. There was absolutely nothing to do. No missions. Tsunade-sama had demanded a vacation, and even the substitute Hokage, Jiraiya, didn't seem to be getting any reports on requested missions suited for chuunin such as him. Asuma-sensei had gone with Mighto Gai, Hatake Kakashi, and Umino Iruka on a huge S-ranked mission, so there would be no r n' r with him today. Even if he were to find the sudden interest to train, Shikamaru knew that there wouldn't be anyone who would be willing to train with him. And what extreme good is training, when you don't have anyone to train with? Not even a game of Shoji or Go with his father would seem to occupy his boredom. There was no reason, he thought, for him to feel like thinking right now. He let a bored frown make it's way onto his face. Absolutely _nothing_ to do.

Father Shikaku leaned forward a little against the table, almost in the same pose as his son, and let the paper he was holding fall from his hands. He snuck a glance at the slurring boy. Their expressions matched, but that didn't seem to bother the man. He stared at the mission report that lay, face-down, in front of him. What was he to say to break the dreaded silence that hung about them both? Shikaku's face turned slightly toward his son's.

"You look like you could use some fresh air," he finally said, after a pause. Shikamaru didn't budge an inch. More silence. Shikaku rolled his eyes and went back to scanning over the mission report. Finally his son came to life slightly.

"Both of our largest windows are opened, considering what a hot day it is," he said unenthusiastically, tilting his head slightly toward the two windows, which sat wide open. Shikaku held back a slight grunt.

"Don't make such a troublesome excuse, Shikamaru. You've been inside all day, and you're already lazy enough. Maybe you should be a little social, outside, where there are people." Shikamaru sighed heavily and stood, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Look who's talking, old man," he muttered under his breath as Shikaku stood as well and turned his back on the boy to dispose of the paper. "What a drag. Fine. . .maybe Chouji is around town somewhere."

He slugged to the door and opened it. As if on cue, he received a face-full of hot air. It seemed ten times hotter out in the open than it did in the confined space that was his home. It was like walking into an oven. It wasn't the humid type of hot, like what you would find in a rainforest, it was the dry, sickening type of hot, like Suna. Shikamaru let off a shiver, surprisingly enough.

"No. . .not a good time to be thinking about Suna," he mumbled to himself, starting off to find refuge from this heat.

The angry sun's rays hear mercilessly down upon Kohona's topography, causing everything to seem like it was melting, slowly, but melting. Shikamaru highly regretted even thinking about agreeing to his father's suggestion. There was _no_ possible way that anyone would be out in this kind of intense heat. He decided to take small walk to the square, near the Hokage Tower. There was a possibility that he might find something to preoccupy his time there.

BreaK.

Unlike what the young Nara had expected, the streets of the square were filled with people. Shinobi with nothing better to do and unhappy people joined forces to make long queues and clusters that flooded around food carts and nick-knack stands, shouting haggle prices to sweating vendors, who just wanted a little breathing room. How troublesome. That would cause more body heat, making the place even hotter, if that was possible. And to add to the horror, Shikamaru glanced down at the cobblestones below him, the rocks that made up the streets of the square would decline the heat of the sun, making it hang in the air, making the square even _hotter_.

'Geez, does _no-one_ think over their decisions before they do things anymore, me included?' Shikamaru commented silently, letting out a huge sigh, his shoulders hunching a little. He wiped a large bead of sweat from his brow and turned to find somewhere else to go. But as he began to follow the dirt path that led through the more suburb-y section of Kohona, he began to just wander. There was nowhere that he could really go to hide from this heat. Not that he could think of. He slumped over, staring at the dampening ground, at his feet scuffing across the dirt road, causing dust to escape from beneath

Finally he saw it. An oasis of his imagination, only it was real. Well, it wasn't an oasis, it was a brook. Shikamaru had never really noticed this place of Kohona. He had to literally go up and dip his sweating hands into the running water before he actually believed that all of this existed. A smile spread across his face. He felt like laughing suddenly. There was no-one who probably knew about this spot, and Shikamaru had it all to himself. He spread out under the shade of a broad tree, who's limbs stretched out over the brook's width and beyond, and rested his hands behind his head. How fortunate was he to find such a place? He closed his eyes and fell into a comfortable doze.

A pair of feet skidding across the dirt paths behind him woke Shikamaru up. He grunted almost silently, and shifted, not opening his eyes. The feet were joined by the sound of someone crumpling a bag of potato chips, and the person was eating the potato chips quite loudly. Then Shikamaru knew exactly who was coming near him. He moved his hands from behind his head, and placed them across his stomach, letting off a slight smile.

"Shikamaru, why does it have to be so hot today?" a complaining voice came. Shikamaru inhaled and opened his eyes.

"It's kinda hard for me to answer that, Chouji," he breathed. "We haven't been having very hot weather lately. Maybe it's just the sky." He pointed up into the air, through the leaves hanging in the trees. "Do you see a single cloud up there?" Shikamaru heard the Akamichi lie against the tree, near him, and shake his head. "That is the reason, maybe. Sometimes the clouds will absorb, or block, the sun's stronger waves from reaching the ground. With no clouds, the heat gets stronger, because of those waves. It's such troublesome heat." He sighed irritably, wiping his wet brow again. Not even the shade of that tree could keep the heat from him.

After a bit of silence, Shikamaru heard Chouji shift. He had almost gotten into another doze. But this didn't bother him much.

"Hey. . .Shikamaru?"

The Nara turned to face the speaker, be become literally an inch from his lips. Shikamaru hesitated, trying not to lock eyes with his friend. He gulped, as silently as he could. Who was going to move? Shikamaru felt hormones rush through his. He felt the sudden urge to move closer. Still, he hesitated. But after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, Shikamaru gave in to his hormones, and leaned forward, brushing lightly against the other boy's lips with his own. He knew he had done something he shouldn't have, but at least his heart didn't feel like lurching to his throat anymore. When Shikamaru pulled back, ever so slightly, and took in the reaction image, he saw Chouji's pudgy cheeks tinted with a dark red rouge. The Nara began to move back, regretting he ever did that.

"Sh. . .Shikamaru. . ." Chouji whispered, grabbing hold of his friend's wrist, stopping him. "Was. . .was that fun. . .fun, for you. . .?" Shikamaru began to share the same shade of red on his cheeks, looking down at the brook, wishing that he could just run away, staggering for any words to say to make the subject die.

"W-Well. . .uh. . ." Shikamaru floundered around for absolutely anything to say. He was a whiz at coming up with solutions to problems, but that was when he was relaxed. Right here, right now, he was far from it. He gradually brought his eyes back up to meet Chouji's, who were gleaming with confusion, curiosity. Shikamaru gulped, and continued to try and find anything to say. "I. . .I, um. . ."

"Because. . ." Chouji let go of his friend's wrist, "Because. . .Well. . .it was fun. . .for me. . ." Shikamaru was left with a puzzled expression, his mouth slightly open. He didn't know how to respond. Were both of their hormones going insane, or was this. . .honest? For Real? "Could you. . .I mean. . .Could you, maybe. . .maybe. . .do it again. . .?"

Shikamaru blinked slowly, taking in what he was hearing right now. "Do it again. . .?" Half of him agreed to this, completely. The other half just stood in silence, never daring to open his mouth again for the rest of his life. Shikamaru felt a strange, awkward feeling stir in his gut as he leaned forward once again, not just brushing, but hesitantly locking their lips. Shikamaru didn't understand what was happening to him. He felt this action as both, the most troublesome thing anyone could ever do to another, and one of the best, indescribable things that had ever come into his way. His thoughts were interrupted, as he felt a slight pushing coming from the outside of his mouth. It was Chouji's tongue. Shikamaru knew what he wanted.

'Troublesome. . .what in the hell is happening to me?' Shikamaru could only contradict himself as he hesitantly allowed Chouji's tongue to enter his mouth. An odd flavor burst through the Nara's mouth as the other boy began to search, explore. Either his hormones were now mocking him, as he helplessly fell for temptation, or this flavor that Chouji was sharing with him seemed a need. He wanted more of it, it seemed, like it was life, itself. His own tongue wound gingerly around Chouji's taking in as much of that flavor as was possible.

Slowly, they began to rock, back and forth, pushing into each other to deepen the kiss more, each time, until Shikamaru had tipped his friend over, their kiss still intact, now lying on the rough roots and grass that surrounded them. Shikamaru hesitantly broke the kiss to look into Chouji's face, studying how much he had scarred both of them. A mixture of emotion was spread across Chouji's face, making Shikamaru tense. Dare he go farther?

TBC (To be Continued. . .)

(Note: And this is where I draw the red line, now. My boredom wore off just a little bit ago, and. . .well. . .I'll tell you what. If I get enough reviews to convince me, I'll finish it. Until then, this is the cliffhanger of an end, people. I'm sorry, it just scares me a little with this pairing, no offence to the few fans. Just following instincts.)

OUT

Kozga Nitt


End file.
